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Gunners in Paris - French Connections

Arsenal will travel to the French capital, Paris, for
this week's Champions League Final. Arsenal.com's Owen
Pinch takes a look at the links between the Club and this famous
old city.

Paris has played host to just two competitive games involving
Arsenal.

Our first visit was in March 1994 against Paris Saint Germain,
and the Parc des Princes was the venue for this European Cup
Winners Cup Semi-Final first-leg tie. Ian Wright opened the scoring
for Arsenal before David Ginola grabbed an equaliser for PSG. The
match finished 1-1, and in the second leg Kevin Campbell scored the
only goal to take us through to the Final.

Our second and last trip came almost exactly a year later in the
Final of the 1995 European Cup Winners Cup. Again the Parc des
Princes was the venue but this time the opposition were Spanish.
Real Zaragoza broke Arsenal hearts with a last minute winner in a
2-1 victory.

Thierry Henry and David Grondin were born in, or in the suburbs
around, Paris. Henry was born and brought up in the Parisien suburb
of Les Ulis. This area is approximately 14 miles south-west of the
centre of Paris. Grondin, a defender, played just four
times for the Club between 1998 and 2003.

The venue for this season's Champions League Final, the
Stade de France, will have fond memories for two former
Gunners. Emmanuel Petit and Patrick Vieira played there for France
in the 1998 World Cup Final. Not only that but the two combined for
Petit to score the third goal in a 3-0 victory for the hosts over
Brazil.

Both Alexandre Song and Abou Diaby also have strong connections
with the venue for the 2006 Champions League Final. They both grew
up just a stone's throw from the Stade de France itself.

Looking even further back, however, an association with a Paris
club which was to span 30 years can be found. On November 11, 1930,
Racing Club de Paris, the French capital's No 1 team hosted
Arsenal for a friendly.

The Gunners, aided by four Jack Lambert goals, won 7-2. Despite
the debilitating scoreline, RCP invited Arsenal back exactly one
year later where the London club repeated their victory but in less
emphatic fashion, managing only a 3-2 win. A special relationship
had been formed.

Racing, though now faded into semi-obscurity and playing under
the name of Racing Club de France 92, were one of France's
oldest and most prestigious clubs. The encounters were originally
conceived by Arsenal manager Herbert Chapman and his French
counterpart, Jean Bernard-Levy, as a means of raising money for
veterans of World War One, and the matches were therefore played
on, or as near to, Armistice Day on November 11.

The fixtures brought Chapman's team a certain degree of
celebrity status on the other side of the Channel, with several of
the leading players being accorded French nicknames in the local
sporting press. Cliff Bastin became Le Feu d'Artifice (The
Firework) for his dazzling displays down the flank and his
goalscoring prowess, Joe Hulme was L'Anguille (The Eel), while
the wizardry of Alex James earned him the title La Miracle (The
Miracle).

In all the teams met 26 times (Arsenal won 21 of the
encounters), with the only interruption coming between 1939-45 due
to World War II. From 1948 onwards the two teams competed for the
Jean Bernard-Levy Cup.

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